Gender changes, not students’ love

KOLKATA: Till a couple of months back it was Hiranmay, a young geography

teacher

, whose classes the children had looked forward to. The classes were fun, more like virtual globetrotting than plain chalk-and-talk. So, when Hiranmay took a fairly long break with a “I’ll be back” promise, the children were heartbroken. Hiranmay never came back; Suchitra filled that void. But the children soon found out that it was the same person — only the gender was different.

Geography classes are back to being fun again at St Andrew’s Public School at Thakurpukur.

The children love the classes, and couldn’t care less about their teacher’s new avatar.

Hiranmay joined the school as a geography teacher sev-en years ago. The teacher was one of the youngest in school and was an instant hit with the kids. The teacher was a little different — in posture, speech and mannerisms, but was fun and so full of life that students did not care, and definitely didn’t make fun of, as is quite common. Careful about her transgender identity, Hiranmay did not mention it to students.

In the staff room, however, Hiranmay’s gender identity was not a secret. She openly discussed with her colleagues that she was a woman, trapped in a man’s body. She used to also relate her painful tale of rejection at home and how she had always sought acceptance right through her student days — first at AG Church and South Point High School and later at Behala College, where she did geography honours. The fact that people chose to poke fun at Hiranmay did not thankfully affect her studies as she went on to bag two MAs — from EIILM and Jodhpur University and later a BEd from Bundelkhand University. Teachers in the staff room at St Andrew’s would listen to her with a lot of sympathy.

“For the first time I felt wanted. The administration realised I was transgendered. But that did not matter and I was respected like the other teachers,” Hiranmay, now Suchitra, told TOI.

The going got tough for Hiranmay at home when she decided to transition, and go for a sex change operation a couple of years later. “Everyone stopped talking to me at home and my brothers kept me out of family gatherings, as if I were an outcast. My poor mother was torn between them and me. But when I mentioned it in school, I was encouraged to do what I always wanted. My headmistress was sympathetic and my long leave was granted when I went for surgery to Moradabad in UP under Indivar Upadhyay, one of the best-known plastic surgeons for sex-change operations. She told me my job was secure and I could go ahead without fear,” Suchitra said.

She is just back to school after reconstruction surgery and follow-up treatment and found her school eagerly awaiting her return. She has given up the trousers-shirt combination now and started wearing salwar-kameez or churidar-kurta to school. Though her surgery is complete and she is a cetified transwoman now, there have been minor complications, for which she will once again be treated by city-based plastic surgeon Manoj Khanna and endocrinologist Anirban Majumdar. “I will again need long leave and I have explained my health issues to the school. I have been immediately granted leave and have been told I don’t have to worry about my job. This is a great relief,” said an emotional Suchitra.

“We still sometimes refer to her as ‘Hiranmay’ and use the male pronoun, but that’s unintentionally, purely out of habit,” conceded headmistress Pragati Mukherjee. “Otherwise, we are doing everything in our capacity to keep her mentally stable and happy. She is a rare gem, who can effortlessly hold the attention of her class and bring in such joy into learning that her gender identity never mattered to us or to the students,” Mukherjee said.

Suchitra is also thankful to the vice-chairperson of the West Bengal Transgender Board, Manobi Bandyopadhyay, who stood by her when her post-surgery complications developed. “I have gone through similar crises in my life and know what Suchitra is going through. We will support her as best as we can. Transgenders need educated people like Suchitra to make life better for the third sex,”

Bandyopadhyay

said.



Check out the latest news about Delhi Elections 2025, including key constituencies such as New Delhi, Kalkaji, Jangpura, Patparganj and Rohini, Chandni Chowk, Rajinder Nagar, Greater Kailash, Okhla, Dwarka.